The Effects of Electoral Mechanics: The Purview of Preferential Voting for Democratic Regeneration in Puerto Rico

Esquire Amaury A. Boscio addresses the effects of electoral systems on the democratic process of electing Puerto Rico’s government officials. He analyzes how the current plurality scheme has produced a two-party system and proposes an alternative model: preferential voting. Preferential voting means that voters rank all the candidates running in order of preference and a candidate becomes elected when he receives a majority of the votes. If no one receives a majority of the votes at the initial tally, the one with the least votes is eliminated and, consequently, all of the votes are automatically transferred to the second choice voters marked on the ballot. The process is repeated as many times as it is necessary for one candidate to pass the majority threshold. The author analyzes the benefits of this model and discusses how this reform can happen in Puerto Rico using Australia and New Zealand as case studies.